Eight Skyhawks highlighted another strong regular season for the Fort Lewis College women’s lacrosse team.
Junior attacker Sara McMahon and freshman midfielder Taylor Cabrera left a mark on the rest of the conference, as they earned All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference first team honors Wednesday.
Junior midfielder Ellie Carpenter, junior defender Katlyne Duffey, freshman goalie Ally Guerrero and sophomore defender Megan Longtain all were named to the All-RMAC second team.
Rebecca Miller, a sophomore attacker, and junior attacker Jam Vertner also earned honorable mention selections for the Skyhawks, who went 9-4 overall and 4-2 in RMAC games in head coach Julia Decker’s first season leading the team.
FLC’s stars will continue their season in the conference tournament as the No. 3 seed. FLC will play No. 2 Regis (11-4, 5-1 RMAC) in the semifinals, with the winner advancing to play the winner between No. 1 Lindenwood (16-1, 6-0 RMAC) and No. 4 Colorado Mesa (9-5, 3-3 RMAC).
Cabrera and McMahon both finished the regular season with 25 goals, good for a tie for second most on the team.
Cabrera put 40-of-50 shots on goal and converted 9-of-13 free-position shots
Carpenter helped lead the Skyhawks all over the field with a team-high 26 goals and eight more assists. She controlled play by winning 34 draw controls, 26 groundballs and 16 forced turnovers. She ranks in the top 10 in the RMAC in five different categories.
Duffey also forced 16 turnovers. She is fifth in the RMAC with 2.54 groundballs per game and ninth in caused turnovers per game.
Longtain scored five goals and collected two assists. She scooped up a co-team high 32 groundballs and also had 16 caused turnovers.
Guerrero had big shoes to fill when she stepped into goal as a freshman. She took over for the Preseason Goalie of the Year Alyssa Spencer, who was forced to miss the season because of injury. She didn’t earn her first start until the ninth game of the season. She gave up 8.93 goals per game and saved 41 percent of the shots she faced.
Miller and Vertner both scored 21 goals and added seven assists each. Both also put 38-of-40 shots on goal during the regular season.
Regis’ Emily Behr was the only non-Lindenwood player or coach to be selected as a player of the year. Behr was named the RMAC Offensive Player of the Year after scoring 55 goals and adding 30 assists in 15 games during her senior season.
Lindenwood’s Sophie Buelow earned Midfielder Player of the Year, Bailey Knapton won Defensive Player of the Year, Rachel Ortell was the Freshman and Goalkeeper of the Year, and head coach Jack Cribbin won Coach of the Year.
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